Quote:
Originally Posted by traydawn  How did you find out they were from Puppy Mills and if they are, how are they still in business? I love my puppy and spent quite a bit on her. Do you have any recommondations other then wait and see? The vet said she was really healthy...what you wrote is REALLY freaking me out. It is going to be rough having this little one and constantly worried that something is going to happen to her. It has been 3 weeks and I am BEYOND BEYOND attached to her. |
I'm sorry. My intention wasn't to freak you out or make you a nervous wreck.
I hate to say it but it isn't illegal to own and operate OR to buy from puppy mills. Puppy millers are USDA licensed and pretty much allowed to churn out puppies by the thousands. Many of them pay off the inspectors coming to visit their kennels and lie about the conditions the dogs are forced to live in. It's EXTREMELY hard to close down a puppy mill. If it were easy to shut them down, they wouldn't be around anymore because there are so many rescues and dog groups against them.
Ivan is a broker (meaning he buys dogs from random places and sells them at his store). He doesn't breed them. But Ivan can (and he will even tell you this ... in fact, he BRAGS about it) get ANY dog for you within 1-2 weeks, any age, any gender. If you think about it in a logical way, how can be POSSIBLY have access to ANY breed of dog, ANY gender, ANY age, within a moment's notice if he is simply a hobby breeder? So let's say he gets 20 customers who want a German Shepherd, 30 who want a Yorkie, 15 who want a Maltese and 10 who want a Pomeranian, he can get them ALL dogs within 2 weeks. NO breeder I know or ever heard of can produce dogs that fast ... but Ivan can. Where does he get all those dogs from and at such great speed?
After I lost my precious Katie, I had Codie, Katie and Tia traced (through their AKC papers and their parents). To make a very looooong story short, all 3 came from different mills in Missouri (PUPPY MILL CAPITAL OF THE WORLD!!!) I was beyond devestated to learn this. I always think about my poor dog's mama dog trapped in some cage, covered in feces and urine. It just about breakes my heart.
Your dog may be ok in the long run. I'm not saying EVERY SINGLE DOG he sells is sick or going to be sick. I'm just telling about my own personal experience and a few experiences from people I know. Just because I had 3 bad experiences doesn't mean you will.
The only possible advice I could give you about your baby is (if this is really making you nervous), have the vet run a full blood panel (in particular BUN and CREAT levels), chest and heart x-rays, test for liver shunt and anything else you or your vet can think of but sadly some of these problems don't show themselves until a dog is older. Like anything in life, it's a gamble.
I had no idea Katie was sick until she starting losing weight and pooping blood. We rushed her to the vet and by that time, she was beyond saving. She only had a few months left to live and Jim and I spent THOUSANDS in medical bills, not to mention I was an emotional wreck and cried at the drop of a hat all the time. We took Katie to many vets and specialists (we went as fair as Pennsylvania to a specialist to try and save her) but it just wasn't in god's plan. My poor baby was so sick and so thin, she was practically emaciated.
And she pooped blood every day.
It killed me to watch her dying slowly and know that all my love and money and toys and treats and clothes and time devoted to her and everthing I've EVER done for her just wouldn't cut it, it wouldn't be enough to save her. I had no control over this and it nearly killed me.
Katie died one day before my mother. Katie was killed in a freak car accident. I feel like everything happened that day for a reason. If Katie wasn't killed that day, my whole family would have went to work that Monday and my mom would have been home alone when she had a heart attacked. At least we were with her and we did CPR until the ambulance arrived. So we know in our hearts that there was nothing we could have done to save my mom. If Katie didn't die the day before, we all would have went to work and my father would have found my mom dead when he got home tha day. I would have spent the rest of my life wondering WHAT IF we were there, could we have saved her? Could we have done CPR or something else to save her? But I guess it wasn't meant to be. So I lost my 2 loves, my mom and my Katie. I just know in my heart that Katie is my mom's guardian angel.
Sorry to get so off-topic but for me to tell you about Katie, I felt I should tell the whole story.
That being said, I'm sure everything will work out for you. I wish you and your little girl ALL THE BEST OF LUCK and happiness in the future.